State Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications Tatjana Matić has said at the opening of the conference IDC Adriatic Security Summit 2018, in Belgrade that based on the national information safety development index the Republic of Serbia takes 10th position on the list of 69 countries defined by the e-Governance Academy.

“Serbia takes this position primarily thanks to the high achievement in the field of combating cybercrime, and also for the regulation in this field and protection of key services”, Ms Matić has stressed.

She has reminded that last year, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Strategy for Information Safety Development, defining the strategic priorities of developments in this field.

“Ministry in charge of telecommunications has started with the procedure of adoption of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for Information Safety. The identified measures refer to the ICT systems safety, information safety of citizens, fight against high-tech crime, information safety of the Republic of Serbia, and the international cooperation”, says State Secretary, announcing the adoption of the Law on Information Safety this year, which will ensure a full alignment with the EU Directive on Network and Information Safety.

She has said that in March this year the Protocol on Cooperation of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications on one side, and RATEL on the other side was signed, with the aim to exchange data on incidents which might have a significant impact on jeopardizing information safety of ICT systems of special importance, and that last year the Ministry signed the Protocol on Cooperation with the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which covers the establishment of the Centre for Privacy and Safety Protection in Digital Space.

“Strategy for Information Safety envisages international cooperation with the aim to exchange information, knowledge, and experience with foreign network of national, professional, and international centres for prevention of safety risks in ICT systems”, she added, stating that the cooperation in the field of information safety has been established with the USA Embassy to Belgrade, OSCE, International Union for Telecommunications, Academy for e-Governance of the Republic of Estonia, Diplo Foundation, Swiss DCAF.

Technological development brings new safety issues, where cyber-attacks can significantly jeopardise business of companies, operation of state infrastructure, and national safety, while individuals, primarily children, are more and more exposed to the risk of frauds, blackmails, and abuse via the Internet. Aware of the risks and open for a digital transformation, we are ready to the challenges brought by the future”, concluded State Secretary.